Gundam is a lot like Marvel. I’ve never considered myself a fan and can’t tell you much about its lore. All I could do was name a few of the more iconic characters… like 3 of them. However, I did grow up with the franchise permeating the pop culture, and love similar media and products (such as Zoids). Therefore, I do like Gundam on the conceptual level and can get excited to see it.
I became more obsessed last summer when Derek told me about his visit to the Yokohama Gundam Factory, where there was a giant “life sized” robot that could actually move. Even if I had no idea what a Gundam was, a six-story humanoid statue would be quite a marvel to check out. We immediately put it down on our itinerary for this trip.
Later on, we learned that Gundam Factory was closing this spring, just months before our trip. I had no idea why they wanted to take away such a iconic thing and a major tourist attraction, but it was for sure a bummer. To fill that void of disappointment, I turned my attention on the remaining life-sized Gundams. Well, what do you know? Both of them were on our travel path, and significantly taller than the Yokohama one.
While in Fukuoka, we visited Gundam Park at LaLaport and Gundam Base at Canal City. This gateway city was initially planned to solely be a transfer point from the ferry to an eastward train, but it turned out to be a pilgrimage of Gundam destinations.
Then, in Tokyo the following week, we also checked out Gundam Base at Diver City Odaiba.
The Bases
The Japanese are really good at taking their stuff seriously and intensely. What’s effectively a retail store of nerdy plastic models becomes a standalone attraction when you call it a robotic military station. Though of course, they’ve got the coolest product displays, which made it fun to explore these stores.
The Japanese are also masters at producing exclusive contents. Here’s a limited edition SD Unicorn Gundam only available in Fukuoka ($$), and a metal Sazabi exclusive to Gundam Base members ($$$$). Additionally, we were unable to get into Gundam Base Tokyo because entry was limited and the daily spots were all taken in advance.
A personal gem was seeing SD Gundams from the early 90s. Hard to believe they were still available for sale in the 21st century. I had a bunch of them as a kid, and this one was a favorite.
People-Sized Gundam
Each store also had on display some Gundam statues far larger than the plastic model kits that a fan can buy.
Water Show
Between Canal City (an artistic mall with fun stores for younger customers) and Grand Hyatt Fukuoka (our hotel) was a water feature with periodic fountain shows. After dinner that day, we came across it featuring a Gundam show projected onto the side of the hotel and sound effects coordinated with the fountain. We had no idea what was going on, but the immersive experience was impressive.
Life-Sized Gundam
Amazing. That’s all. I’d say the same about Hello Kitty if it also came in this size and level of intricacy.
Here’s the Nu Gundam, the tallest of such thing to have ever existed, outside LaLaport Fukuoka.
And here’s Unicorn Gundam in destroy mode outside Diver City Odaiba.
I learned after the visit that while they don’t walk like the Yokohama one (R.I.P.), both these robots actually had some moving parts in addition to the impressive lighting, that could be seen during certain times of the day. Too bad I didn’t look into this early enough to plan it into the trip.
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